Medusa Coils

Fiercely defending, bravely exploring Goddess and spiritual feminisms

Sunday, September 27, 2015

Buzz Coil: September 2015

Some recent posts from blogs on our blogroll (please note, we don't knowingly list posts in Buzz Coil that have been published previously elsewhere or on the same blog). Please excuse the variation in some of the font sizes. I have tried to fix this in both Explorer and Firefox, but couldn't fix it all and had to stop due to persistent carpal tunnel syndrome.

Hearth Moon Rising’s blog:
Blogger Hearth Moon’s September 18 post is a “Call for Contributions” for
authors of books related to spiritual feminism published in 2015. The books and
authors selected will be featured on Dec. 16 during an hour-long part of a
9-day Solstice video project hosted by the Mago Academy. Hearth
Moon’s September 11 post, “What’s in a Name? Part Part III (Shaman),” explains
the relationship of the terms “Witch” and “Shaman.”

The Wild Hunt: Heather Greene’s September
27 post, “Goddesses Alive! A Ritual in Masks,” which
will be presented at the October 18 Parliament of World Religions,
gives the background on previous presentations of this ritual theater piece,
the creation of the masks by Lauren Raine, and the script by Aline O’Brien (aka
Macha NightMare) and helpers. With video showing masks.

“My spiritual life is Earth-based, I am part of that
blue-green web that is Gaia. The stories we have told ourselves have put that
web in danger. Until I began focused study of the issue, I didn’t realize just
how serious the situation is or how immanent the danger is.”

With video
of her lecture on the subject.

She also
announces what mask she will be wearing in the performance of Goddesses Alive! at the Parliament of
World Religions in October.

The Motherhouse of the Goddess:In addition to several posts about Motherhouse activities, on Sept. 8 priestess and founder of
The Motherhouse Kimberly Moore posts “Blessings of the Sweet Waters — Happy
Oshun Day,” in which she describes Oshun as a Goddess and her “Guardian
Orisha.” With a video interview with Luisah Teish. In
a September 24 postthis blog reprinted, with my permission,
my review of Jeri Studebaker’s book, Breaking
the Mother Goose Code, and added a pic of one version of Mother Goose.

Annelinde’s World: Annelinde Metzner’s September 11 post, “Reaching,” is written from the Catskill
Mountains to her grandmother and sisters, and begins:

Each mountain a Lady's breast,

I feel Her body,
Gaia’s self,Speaking, speaking.”

Her
September 9 post, a poem called, “September Light,” is accompanied by several
pics.

Alchemy of Clay:Potter Barbara Rogers September 16 post is a poem, “Am I the earth?” that
begins:I lie down to sleepOn Her watersTo sleep and be washed clean

My Village Witch:
In a September 21 post, Byron Ballard announces "The Fire of Her Bright Spirit: a Year of Priestess
Training in the Mother Grove Tradition,” which will begin in November in Asheville NC.

HecateDemeter: Blogger Hecate has posted several posts beginning September 9 about Dion
Fortune’s book, The Magical Battle of
Britain, including a September 12 post, “Only a Story, Born of a Story,”
about a Gardnerian coven, dreams that witches had in Britain in 1940, and a
Lammas eve ritual during which a cone of power was raised against Nazi Germany.

Glenys’s blog: Glenys
Livingstone’s September 9 post, “Equinox EarthGaia,” explains the astronomical
and mythological relationships of the two simultaneous equinoxes on our planet.

Works of Literata:In a September 22 post, blogger Literata discusses
the relationship of water to “autumn and the western direction,” including this
observation:"At this time of the
equinox, we like to think about balance, and it’s easy to get caught up in
thinking of that balance as a single point, the perfect moment of equality, as
if that were a stable thing. But it’s not; even if that moment of balance
happens for a second, it’s because of the motion around it, through that
moment, which makes the balancing possible.”

Woods Priestess:Blogger Molly’s September 16 post offers a "Ritual Recipe: Fall
Equinox Gratitude Ceremony.” On September 16, she began a series marked
“(#30DaysofHarvest),” with a post on “The Coming of Autumn.” She is writing
this series as part of a course she is taking.

No Longer Qivering:A September 23 post by Samantha Field, “Huckabee and the Downfall of Western
Civilization,” is a response to the most recent Republican presidential
candidates’ debate and focuses on what is meant by “Western Civilization” and
its relationship to fundamentalist and evangelical Christianity.

Large Goddess/Spiritual Feminist Blogs

Because of the large number and variety of bloggers and posts on these blogs, we are now suggesting that you visit them and select the posts that interest you most.Return to Mago:A Goddess-centered blog whose administrator/owner is Helen Hye-Sook Hwang.Feminism and Religion:Many bloggers from many different religions and pathsPagan Square:This blog of many mostly-Pagan paths is sponsored by BBI Media and includes SageWoman blog posts.

According to an email received from the organizers of the Conference on Current Pagan Studies to be held January 23-24, 2016 at Claremont Graduate University, the deadline for "paper abstracts" has been extended to October 6. The theme of the Conference is Social Justice. Quoting from the email, with words of particular interest to readers of this blog italicized by me, and with the addition of the bracketed phrase at the end ):

"We face issues of social justice everywhere we look, from something as overwhelming as #blacklivesmatter to the seeming trivial Wiccanate privilege. Like the innumerable heads of the Lernaean Hydra, it seems that every time we manage to quell an issue involving racism, sexism, or privilege, two more such issues appear. Add to this the poisonous breath of the hate rhetoric that surrounds these issues, and virulent ichor of the rigid beliefs from which such transgressions emerge, the task of those on the side of social justice does appears quite Herculean. How do we as Pagans, Wiccans, Druids, Witches, Heathens and the many other paths that have arisen incorporate these concerns into our research, our outlook, our activism, etc.? We are using this idea in its broadest terms. We are hoping to encompass issues concerning racism, feminism, womanism, eco-justice, food security, gender justice, classism, neo-colonialism, etc. seen through the eyes of our scholars/activists.

"We are looking for papers from all disciplines. A community needs artists, teachers, scientists, healers, historians, philosophers, educators, thinkers, activists, etc.
As usual, we are using Pagan in its most inclusive form, covering pagans, wiccans, witches and the numerous hybrids that have sprung up as well as any indigenous groups that feel akin to or want to be in conversation with Pagans. Abstracts should be no longer than 300 words. . . Go to our website www.paganconference.com for advice on presenting papers..." [and for the email address to which you can send papers].

Monday, September 21, 2015

Podcast Interview About Book, Goddess Matters

I was pleased to be interviewed by host Kimberly
Moore about my book, Goddess Matters: the
mystical, practical, and controversial, on a podcast of Goddess Alive! on Saturday, September 19. You can listen to it now
in the program’s archives. The podcast is a feature of the Motherhouse of the Goddess, an online community
that also features classes through its Mystery School. In Saturday’s podcast, I discuss a number
of issues included in the first section of Goddess
Matters, “Today’s Trends,” including how I got into Goddess spirituality
back in the 1970s, today’s challenges, and Goddess in Christianity and Judaism.
The section on Christianity starts at about 35:44; the section on Judaism starts at
about 42:00. I end with a reading (at about 52:13). The plan is that my
“appearance” there last Saturday is the first in a series on the material in
Goddess Matters, which was the second
of my Goddess books to receive awards--two finalists award in the
“Spirituality” and “Women’s Issues” categories of the International Book Awards
2012. My previous book, the Second Enlarged Edition ofGoddess Spirituality for the 21st Century, was Winner of
the USA Best Books Award 2009 in the “comparative religion” category.

Tuesday, September 01, 2015

Goddess Ritual Scheduled for Parliament of World Religions

{updated 9/15/15}We are glad to share with you, with permission, an announcement from Faelind, High Priestess of the Tree of Knowledge Coven in Dallas. (We edited it only slightly. Goddess Alive! is a different ritual from the "Dancing the Goddess Home" ritual that was part of the Goddess 2000 celebration.)

“Goddesses Alive! A Ritual with Masks” has been chosen to be performed at the upcoming Parliament of World Religions in Salt Lake City, Utah, in October 2015. Originally created in celebration of the Goddess 2000 Project by M. Macha NightMare (Aline O’Brien) and mask-maker Lauren Raine, this ritual draws from several different contemporary and historical Pagan paths. Incorporating music and singing, chant and narrative, dance and direct interaction with attendees, 13 embodied indigenous, ethnic, and historical faces of Goddesses speak to the issues of climate change and care for creation, respect for women and Nature, and can bring an experiential awareness of the divine feminine.

What: The 2015 Parliament of the World’s Religions

When: October 15 - 19, 2015

Where: Salt Palace Convention Center, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

The Parliament is the oldest, the largest, and the most inclusive gathering of people of all faith and traditions. The first Parliament took place in 1893. Since then, this historic event has taken place in Chicago, USA • Cape Town, South Africa • Barcelona, Spain R 26; Melbourne, Australia - and this year will be in Salt Lake City, Utah!

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